Baltimore Orioles projected lineup, rotation for 2022 MLB season

The Baltimore Orioles finished last season with one of the worst records in baseball at 55-110 and last place in the AL East. There wasn’t a lot to love about the Orioles last year, but we did see a tremendous season out of Cedric Mullins and John Means throw a no-hitter in one of the best moments in 2021. Baltimore will hope to not finish in last place this season in a tough division and build around the young players coming up through the system.

Baltimore Orioles projected starting lineup

1. Cedric Mullins (CF)
2. Ryan Mountcastle (1B)
3. Anthony Santander (RF)
4. Trey Mancini (DH)
5. Austin Hays (LF)
6. Rougned Odor (2B)
7. Ramon Urias (3B)
8. Jorge Mateo (SS)
9. Robinson Chirinos (C)

The Orioles did not make no major splashes in free agency as they bring back almost the same team from last season. Mullins and Mountcastle are the two players to watch for the O’s until Adley Rutschman makes his major league debut. Last season, Mullins had 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases, which was his best year in MLB by far. Meanwhile, Mountcastle hit .255 with 33 home runs, 89 RBI and finished sixth in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

Projected rotation

1. John Means
2. Jordan Lyles
3. Tyler Wells
4. Bruce Zimmermann
5. Keegan Akin

There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding Baltimore’s starting rotation as you don’t know what to expect from any of their starting pitchers outside of Means. Means is the ace of the staff and had a solid 2021 season, where he went 6-9 with an ERA of 3.62 through 26 starts. The 28-year-old pitcher also recorded a career-high 134 strikeouts in 146.2 innings pitched for an Orioles’ squad that does not have a ton of reliable starting pitchers.